Bright lights, warmth, detachment from the body, life flashbacks, encounters with spirits; these are all things that thousands, perhaps even millions of people have reported when they have approached death. These so-called near-death-experiences (NDEs) are widely recognized phenomena, but they have been met with considerable skepticism among the medical and scientific community and many consider them to be merely hallucinatory or illusory in nature.

Despite the considerable number of anecdotal reports on NDEs, which seem to be increasing in frequency because of developments in cardiac resuscitation techniques, very few objective studies into these experiences exist. But now, researchers from the University of Southampton have just completed a four-year international study on over 2,000 cardiac arrest patients, and it’s given us a fascinating insight into this eerie topic.

As described in Resuscitation, the AWARE (awareness during resuscitation) study set out to examine the broad range of awareness and mental experiences associated with cardiac arrest. They tested the validity of the reported experiences using objective markers to determine whether the claims corresponded to actual events or hallucinations.

Of the 2,060 patients enrolled in the study, 330 survived and 140 were able to complete structured interviews about their memories of the event. They found that 39% of these individuals described some awareness of the time preceding resuscitation, i.e. when their hearts had stopped beating. The majority of these patients, however, did not have specific memories of the event, suggesting that many people do indeed have mental activity during cardiac arrest, but lose their memories after recovery. According to lead author Dr. Parnia, this could be due to brain injury or sedative drugs.

For example, ketamine—a dissociative anesthetic used for sedation and general anesthesia—has been known to make users feel a strong sense of detachment from their bodies and a sense of peace or joy. The induced state is often described as similar to that of near-death experiences.

A previous study that examined the brain activity of seven critically ill patients removed from life support found a spike of neural activity at or near the time of death. The lead author of the study reported that seizures in the memory regions of the patient's brain could be responsible for NDEs.

Although the patients in the current study could not recall specific details, many had memories with specific themes. According to the National Post, 20% said they felt peaceful and almost one third felt that time had either slowed down or sped up. Some had tranquil experiences and saw bright lights and animals, whereas others felt fear and even recounted the feeling of being dragged through deep water.

Interestingly, 13% of these individuals felt separated from their bodies, and one man recalled leaving his body entirely and watching his resuscitation from the corner of the room. It took three minutes to start this man’s heart again, but he could describe specific details of both the staff and the procedure. He also recalled two beeps from a machine that only makes noise every three minutes.

“We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating,” Dr. Parnia told National Post. “But in this case conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes into the period when the heart wasn’t beating, even though the brain typically shuts down within 20-30 seconds after the heart has stopped.”

Although only 2% of patients could explicitly recall ‘seeing’ or ‘hearing’ actual events, because the details were consistent with verified events, it is impossible to discredit them at this stage and more work is needed.

[Via University of Southampton, Resuscitation, and National Post]

Is Lucid Dreaming the brains preparation for the next step of human evolution when we can escape the corporeal bond of our bodies?

nesgirl wrote:In case you didn't know this, there is a chemical in the brain that in rare occasions releases while unconscious and will release at death called DMT. This chemical allows the person to dream/Lucid Dream. Actually there is in fact a reason why the DMT releases right before a person/animal dies no one seems to understand. However, the drug trip only lasts for about 10-15 minutes, and once the drug trip is over, you will slowly fade away into unconsciousness, to sleep forever (I really hope, and if old science doesn't kill me, I will jump onto a rocket, launch into space, and jump into a black hole, and then I will truly sleep forever, I hate immortality). Let me ask you a question, why would you wish for immortality anyway? You would get bored after a while doing the same thing over and over again. And there are several things you should realize about Immortality:

IDK, it appears to me that the lack of transport system (blood pumping) would make the spread of and drug into enough of the brain unlikely as a cause for hallucinations you would remember.Odd you think falling into a black hole would be death. Science indicates that as you entered the event horizon time would slow down and the last seconds before being sucked in would basically last forever! Immortal hell? Not the way I would wanna go.

Is Lucid Dreaming the brains preparation for the next step of human evolution when we can escape the corporeal bond of our bodies?

You are missing my point about both topics. 1. Dead people don't bleed, know why? 2. Black holes only come in different sizes but are identical in how they work. So once you reach the event horizon weather big or small you will accelerate to a terminal velocity nearing the speed of light where time will move slower. It is part of Einstein's theory of relativity so I'm just spitting back up science that's a bit beyond me anyways. So blame Einstein if it's wrong. ON second thought blame Steven Hawkins since he said recently black holes don't exist at all.

Is Lucid Dreaming the brains preparation for the next step of human evolution when we can escape the corporeal bond of our bodies?

buildit wrote:You are missing my point about both topics. 1. Dead people don't bleed, know why? 2. Black holes only come in different sizes but are identical in how they work. So once you reach the event horizon weather big or small you will accelerate to a terminal velocity nearing the speed of light where time will move slower. It is part of Einstein's theory of relativity so I'm just spitting back up science that's a bit beyond me anyways. So blame Einstein if it's wrong. ON second thought blame Steven Hawkins since he said recently black holes don't exist at all.

1. I beg to differ that dead people can't die in media. There is clear evidence in the media that dead people can in fact die a second death:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0UY4tHHb4o Well the ghost of Christmas past sure bled quite a bit when he got shot, and he even got his carcass eaten.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uej3kF8cIhY After Peter Pan gets Curb Stomped, his "Shadow" gets curb stomped, and there's shadow guts all over where he got curb stomped http://videolog.tv/583837 The cats get vacuumed and burned to death as the mouse enjoys himself.And if you are talking about a literal person bleeding after they are dead, they can bleed after death if they are bleeding to begin with. Biology doesn't stop after a person dies, so everything releases out of the person's body, including the blood. Actually that's why corpses smell really bad at first, and it isn't because of decomposition. 2. Even as you slow down, the point you are at, your body is getting compressed, so you are getting destroyed. Well it doesn't matter anyways. Because without the necessities needed, you will die pretty quickly anyways. Also if I had a choice of living an eternal life burning in hades and being bothered by others and bothering others, or having a solitary life until I die away from everyone and everything in the middle of space where I would never bother anyone again, I would pick the solitary life.

I honestly must not be able to comprehend what you mean by "death in media". It sounds like what happens to a tv show when enough people don't watch it. I feel bad for your interpretation of the end of life. My own feeling is that the adventure continues without many of the limitations we have now. The worlds we can explore within our dreams lucid or not are only a preview and field of preparation for the universe we may someday exist in.

Is Lucid Dreaming the brains preparation for the next step of human evolution when we can escape the corporeal bond of our bodies?

nesgirl wrote:Not what I hear from many of the religious leader's mouths. If you were evil (which many of us here were actually deemed that, including myself), you keep your limitations, and disabilities, and you suffer. Unfortunately, many of my Lucid Dreams, I still have mood swings, those don't go away. It would be easy enough to conclude then I would have them in hades then.

As my Dad would say stop listening to (A-hole$) It took me many years to learn the difference between religion and faith. But I am not here to change minds, just express my POV.

nesgirl wrote:As for living eternally in a Lucid Dream and not waking up from the Lucid Dream, as much pleasure as I get from my Lucid Dreams now and that I enjoy them, after a while I would eventually run out of new ideas and get bored, and would just want to die. The guy in Waking Life sure didn't want to live eternally in his Lucid Dreams and when he was ready at the end of the movie, simply faded into unconsciousness.

No, not live in a lucid dream. I am saying that our lucid dreams are a type of preparation for afterlife. Again just my point of View and your end may differ. From how you talk media all the time you might end like this...... LOL ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk-8oyWpQNU

Is Lucid Dreaming the brains preparation for the next step of human evolution when we can escape the corporeal bond of our bodies?